In most air-bag apparatuses provided on a driver's seat side, an air-bag module is integrally attached to the inside of a horn operation unit of a steering wheel. In this case, a horn block to which the horn operation unit and the air-bag module are integrally attached is attached by a support pin made of a metal to a steering wheel main body supported by a steering shaft.
As this kind of steering wheel structure, a structure is known in which one end part of a support pin is locked to any one of a horn block and a steering wheel main body, a rubbery elastic component is interposed between the other of the horn block and the steering wheel main body and the other end part of the support pin, and according to the mass of the horn block and the elastic component, a dynamic damper for suppressing the vibration of the steering wheel is formed (for example, refer to Patent Document 1).
In the steering wheel structure described in Patent Document 1, a connection unit that connects a horn block to a steering wheel main body includes a support pin having one end part that is locked to the horn block; a rubbery elastic component; and inner and outer members made of a resin held by the support pin in a state where the elastic component is sandwiched. The inner member is supported by the horn block via a coil spring, and the outer member is connected to the steering wheel main body.
In the steering wheel structure, the elastic component sandwiched by the inner member and the outer member made of a resin functions as a spring of a dynamic damper, and the horn block is caused to resonate with vehicle vibration to thereby attenuate the vibration of the steering wheel. Further, in the steering wheel structure, the elastic component is not directly attached to a metal member on the steering wheel main body side but is locked to the steering wheel main body side via the outer member made of a resin, and therefore, it is possible to prevent the elastic member from coming into contact directly with the metal member and being worn early.